Welcome to the MayDay Group website

The MayDay Group functions as an international think tank of music educators that aims to identify, critique, and change taken-for-granted patterns of professional activity, polemical approaches to method and philosophy, and educational politics and public pressures that threaten effective practice and critical communication in music education. Ongoing debate about these matters has resulted in a more formal, two-fold purpose:

to apply critical theory and critical thinking to the purposes and practices of music education, and

to affirm the central importance of musical participation in human life and, thus, the value of music in the general education of all people.

The MayDay Group holds annual colloquia, based on the group’s Action Ideals, aimed at furthering critical thought in the music education profession.

MayDay Group members include musicians, music educators, social and cultural theorists from over 25 countries. There is no membership fee, and anyone can become a member just by registering.

The MayDay Group operated for many years on a voluntary, ad hoc basis. As the group has grown, a more formal governance structure has emerged.